This report serves as a tool to project teams working on Results-Based Financing (RBF) projects in the water sector. It provides sector-specific entry points, key questions to consider, and sample objectives and indicators that can be used to consider how RBF can be used to close the gender gap.

Access to clean water remains a struggle for many of the poorest households in rural areas. GPRBA collaborated with the World Bank in Tanzania to bring safe, clean water to 165 villages in the country by combining blended financing with emerging technologies including solar water pumps, pre-paid meters, chlorination and remote sensors.

In 2009, a pilot project was initiated with support from the World Bank's Water and Sanitation Program (WSP). This pilot aimed to leverage private sector resources and help poor households in rural areas access affordable, high-quality sanitation facilities from local businesses.

Output-based aid (OBA) is helping low-income households in rural Bangladesh access microloans to invest in hygienic sanitation facilities. The OBA grant subsidizes the cost of the facilities, reducing the overall cost for cash-constrained households, and the microloans help them to spread repayment over time.

Around 95% of Sri Lankans have access to basic sanitation. Yet, the growing urban population and density pose a challenge of ensuring safe sanitation consistently. The Government of Sri Lanka is committed to ensure all people using safely managed sanitation services by 2030. This requires new approaches and smart solutions.

In Ghana, output-based aid (OBA) was used to improve affordability for households in crowded low-income areas of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) to invest in improved household toilets. OBA was provided as a subsidy to reduce the upfront cost for toilets and stimulate demand, which in turn made it more attractive for financial institutions to enter this market.

Given the significant financing gap to meet the needs of developing countries and achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals*, governments, multilaterals and other development partners are increasingly looking to the private sector to help fill this gap.